High Court

The TCA or Timeshare Consumers Association, was originally set up by Mr Sandy Grey around 1997, it is believed that he was himself a very disgruntled owner and wanted to spread the word on the dubious practices of the timeshare industry.

He created the association as a non profit company, offering advice on timeshare to owners who had nowhere else to turn. He was basically hated within the industry for the information he highlighted.

He was the subject of a High Court (London) libel case brought by the OTE (now the RDO) and the industry. He represented himself against the big guns which the industry could afford, unfortunately he lost and was ordered to pay substantial costs. Although this did not stop him from continuing with his work.

In 2008 he attended the court in Coin, Malaga, in defence of an expat couple being sued for libel by Bob Trotta of Resort Properties / Silverpoint fame or is that infamy. The basis of the case was that the couple had published libelous remarks about him on the Crimeshare website. Sandy admitted to the court that he was the one behind it and not this couple. Sandy told Coin Court: “I originally ran Crimeshare and continued to publish it under various domain names until February 2008.

“The website was dedicated to exposing deceit and fraud in the timeshare industry in Europe.”

“A very large number of complaints from consumers, around 1,000, alleged fraud and mis-selling.”

Throughout his time running the TCA from home he helped hundreds if not thousands of timeshare owners, and was known as a great champion of the rights of consumers. He also came in for a lot of abuse from the industry, but his tenacity always won through.

When Sandy died of Motor Nuerone Disease in April 2013, it was thought that this was the end of the TCA.

In April 2016 the company name was changed to Bridgewell Investments Ltd, William Aspinall resigned as director on 8 July 2016, that same day the new director was appointed.

This new director is one Mark Rowe, an old hand in the timeshare industry, having previously worked for Bob Trotta as a sales manager / director of Resort Properties / Silverpoint. He is also the owner and director of several companies in the UK and Tenerife. The main being Hollywood Marketing Sl, which has been renamed Monster Group Travel.

As Mark Rowe is now the director of the TCA and the sister website timesharetalk, owned and run by TCA, a forum for owners to ask and answer questions, these previously independent websites are under the control of Monster.

It has already been noted on several other forums including comments from readers of Inside Timeshare, that all posts made on timesharetalk about Monster have been removed. That the TCA website no longer highlights any comments about any Monster associated company on its website. Below are just four comments received:

“Wasn’t it TOLMEX that took over the Timeshare talk site in March 2016. See the TESS news blog for 21st March 2016. The original posts and members comments regarding this subject seem to have been removed from the Timeshare Talk blog. Have you got any information on this or have I missed something?”

“NOW YOU SEE IT! NOW YOU DON’T! TESS posted another scathing attack on Monster /Sell my Timeshare etc yesterday, 14th September, in their news section. It was then copied along with a couple of additional comments on TIMESHARE TALK by one of the members (again yesterday 14th September). Just had another look now (a.m. 15th September) and it has disappeared!!! Gone! Spirited away in the night!

All other posts relating to Monster & Co have also been deleted. I was surprised that this one got through, even for a short time.”

“We bought our floating week timeshare before 1999. We decided to contact the TCA to see if they could explain how the new Spanish laws affect or don’t affect our week. Had read somewhere about a Deed of Adaptation and were just curious to see if they could shed any light. A very nice young lady answered. Said she would find out and call us back at 11a.m. the next day, which she did. She explained what we could do told us that the TCA recommend Sell my Timeshare. We explained why we would not be happy to do that and she replied that the TCA found them to be a very reputable company. As Kevin said in an earlier post, It is a sad state of affairs.

And just because I could, I wrote about this on Timeshare Talk in response to another post relating to SellmyTimeshare.TV. (Only last night 22nd Sept)

Yep, you guessed it. The fairies have been busy in the night again and both posts gone this morning. You have to laugh!”

“What a sad state of affairs! Sandy Grey was a great fighter for owners’ rights and, as you so rightly put, must be turning in his grave. Let us hope that you can carry on where the great man left off!”

It must also be noted that TESS, who worked very closely with the TCA are now vociferously attacking the Monster Group. They have been subject to a “letter before action” citing deformation, TESS refuse to remove any of their “allegations” believing that they are in the public interest. So far no legal action has been taken.

It must also be noted that Sandy also published The Rise and Fall of Timeshare in Europe, he also gave evidence to the House of Lords and the EU Parliament on timeshare laws.

For those of us who have collaborated with Sandy in the past or had any contact with him, now believe that his work has been highjacked by the very people he fought against. The TCA is no longer the independent voice for the timeshare owner. Sandy will be turning in his grave.

Clients of the law firm Canarian Legal Alliance have been awarded a staggering £235,542 plus interest and legal fees. The contract was also declared null and void.

According to CLA, their clients knew they were purchasing a timeshare, but Puerto Calma tried to disguise this by stating they were buying a share of the property. This is commonly known as Fractional ownership, which apparently comes under timeshare law not real estate. The contract was signed before a notary in order to improve credibility, but the Supreme Court has stated that this is timeshare and therefore comes under the timeshare laws as laid out in Spain.

This will have a significant impact on other timeshare companies who sell Fractional ownership. In fact the First National Trust Company, who are the trustees for the Club la Costa Fractional Property Owners Club, did state in 2012 that Fractional should not be sold as an investment, which would suggest that even they believe it comes under timeshare laws. This ruling would seem to verify that position. (see following links)

It was also announces on 19 September, that CLA had a victory at the High Court No3 in Tenerife against Silverpoint / Resort Properties. Their client this time was awarded £16,722 plus legal interest with the contract being declared null and void.

In this case the court followed the rulings of earlier Supreme Court decisions that contracts in perpetuity are illegal. Again this show the significance of the influence the Supreme Court is having on the lower courts.

So it would seem that Canarian Legal Alliance is going from strength to strength, achieving victories on an almost daily basis. The tenacity of the lawyers is certainly paying off, So congratulations the legal team and their respective clients.

If you require any information regarding this or any timeshare matter, please contact Inside Timeshare and we will point you in the right direction.

Diamond Resorts were unknown in Europe until the takeover of Sunterra in 2007, for many members, they believed it was going to be a new start. Sunterra formerly Grand Vacation Club had a reputation that was to say the least heavy handed, the sales side was aggressive and showed no quarter to those pulled in from the streets. Long standing members with fixed weeks refused to change as they had originally been sold their timeshares as “investments” in property. They also had the right to vote on maintenance fees and other matters which affected the resort they owned.

When Sunterra filed in the US for Chapter 11, which is the equivalent to filing for bankruptcy, many owners wondered what would happen to their “investment”. For those on holiday the talk around the pools and bars was what would happen next, rumours abounded. Information was non existent, the sales decks had been closed with all the reps being laid off. There were still a few of the in-house reps but they had no idea what was going on.

It was then announce that a new company from the States was looking at taking over from Sunterra. The takeover was announced in the Las Vegas Review Journal 28 April 2007. Steven Cloobeck´s privately owned Diamond Resorts paid around $700 million, and also took on responsibility of Sunterra´s debt of $375 million. Was this the new beginning the owners had been waiting for?

Unfortunately, as time has moved on, it has turned into a nightmare for many.

The points system was marketed very aggressively, more so than under Sunterra, owners were basically forced into converting. Around 2008 the first additional levy was introduced, Diamond claimed it was due to the state of the Euro to the Pound. This was only the start, in the first three years management fees increased by around 20-25% annually, for many owners this was a huge burden and they wanted out.